Red Sox History: A historical look at feast or famine at third base
Red Sox disappointments at third base
Red Sox history has been littered with remarkable third basemen and others not so impressive. I am old enough to have dim memories of George Kell, who has been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is Wade Boggs and now Rafael Devers for the more current fans. There have been batting champions other than Boggs – Bill Mueller and Carney Lansford are stashed in my memory banks.
In the 1950s and 1960s, there was steady Frank Malzone. Steady defense and predictable hitting. A six-time American League All-Star and a Gold Glove Award winner. For a good portion of my Red Sox history, I have noted third base – the hot corner – has had its fair share of cornering the market on disappointment.
As noted many times, I thank SABR. Here is a brief memories profile of players who could have had their numbers retired.
Red Sox have future Little Fenway Park at third base
Just who is Tim Naehring? A baseball executive with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees was a post-playing career, but Naehring was also an eighth-round Red Sox draft pick (1988). The right-hand hitting Naehring was a pivotal contributor to the Red Sox that finished first in the American League East in 1995.
Naehring’s contribution was solid defense at third base, a .307 batting average, and ten home runs. This was a breakthrough season for Naehring after making the Pawtucket-Boston round trip for a few seasons. Naehring followed that up in 1996 with a .288/17/65 slash, and Boston was set at third base.
The 30-year-old Naehring was lighting it up in 1997 after 70 games. Nine home runs, 40 RBI, a .286 batting average, and a lousy shoulder and elbow killed his career. Naehring may not have looked like the previously mentioned Malzone, but he played a lot like him.
As mentioned, Naehring had a respectable post-career starting with his hometown Reds, but Naehring also founded Athletes Reaching Out and built Fenway Park. Actually, it was Little Fenway Park built on his old little league field in Cincinnati.
The Red Sox wasted career of Joe Foy
The third baseman for the wondrous 1967 Red Sox was right-hand hitting Joe Foy and one of the saddest cases in Red Sox history. Foy had speed, a lousy glove, and good power. That season, Foy hit 16 home runs and hit .251; Foy also had a sandpaper relationship with hard-line manager Dick Williams. Was it race?
Foy was one of three Black players who were part of the core of the 1967 team. George Scott and Reggie Smith went on to have successful careers, and Foy was finished in a few seasons.
In 1969, Boston left Foy eligible for the expansion draft and the Royals scooped him up. Foy slashed .262/11/71 for the Royals and was shipped to the Mets. Next season it was Washington, and that was it. Why?
Rumors had circulated in his Boston days regarding substance abuse and alcoholism. Foy also started to look like Pablo Sandoval as his conditioning – a sore point with Williams – became even more of an issue. A career that was tossed away, but Foy did straighten out his life after returning to his hometown Bronx only to die of a heart attack at age-46.
Red Sox get an Alabama QB for third base
I have written about Butch Hobson many times as I considered the right-hand slugger the worst fielding third baseman I have ever seen, but some conditions influenced his defense. Hobson could kill you defensively with a throw or a botched fielding play. But the former Alabama quarterback could slug. In 1977, Hobson smashed 30 home runs and followed that up with 45 over the next two seasons.
Hobson did garner some sympathy since his elbow and knee injuries contributed to his defense. Old football injuries surfaced, and Hobson did become a respected dirt dog for his devil may care defense. So maybe my harshness should be a tad modified?
Hobson did earn the respect of GM Lou Gorman. Hobson became team manager in 1991 but he failed in the role and was gone in 1994. Later Hobson served as a minor league manager until drug issues surfaced, and he was nailed on a cocaine charge while managing the minors for the Philadelphia organization. Hobson was fired, but Boston came to the rescue hiring him as a special assistant.
Since leaving the Boston organization, Hobson has made the round of independent league managing. Still, my memories are of towering home runs, poor throws, using his body as a wall, and Dan Shaunessey labeling him “Daddy Butch.”
Red Sox have a rise and fall at third base
What could go wrong? A young, talented, controllable, right-handed slugger who can lock down third base for a decade. Will Middlebrooks checked all the boxes, and the highly ranked prospect burst on the scene in 2012.
The fifth-round draft pick (2012) hit .288, powered 15 home runs, and notched 54 RBI in a mere 75 games. The future looked spectacular for both the Red Sox and Middlebrooks. At the beginning of that 2012 season, I had seen Middlebrooks at Pawtucket, and folks that forgot more than I knew regarding baseball raved about the kid. Then it just fell apart.
Injuries are the unknown, and minor ones in baseball can alter a swing. Middlebrooks accumulated leg and hand injuries coupled with slumping production. San Diego, Milwaukee, Texas, and Philadelphia all rolled the dice on Middlebrooks, and it came up snake eyes.
All was not lost for Middlebrooks in his Boston stay. Jenny Dell was the Red Sox’s sideline reporter for the team – both competent and strikingly beautiful. Now she is Middlebrooks wife.
One Red Sox failure and one question mark
Just as Middlebrooks broke onto the stage with a bang, so did another potential right-hand slugger, Michael Chavis. In 2019, Chavis arrived with 18 home runs in 95 games, with many of those long shots among the statcast leaders. Chavis also whiffed 127 times, but that is an acceptable consequence in today’s version of swing from the heels.
Fast forward to 2021, and the once-promising Chavis is now with the Pittsburgh organization. In 2020, he hit just .212 and was at the .190 mark when Boston pulled the plug in 2021. Just 26 years old, Chavis has time to get recentered.
The third base bandwagon also has Bobby Dalbec, who has now been positioned at first base. Dalbec – like Chavis – can mutilate a baseball when he makes contact. In 2020 the ultimate contact took place 25 times but also is the nasty consequences of free-swinging – 154 Ks and just 28 walks.
Next. Free agents the Red Sox should avoid. dark
Dalbec was in a sweet spot offensively the second half of 2021, and it may have been an apparition or possibly not? With Devers approaching the multi-year contract potential that could be $250 MM on up, you could see Dalbec return to his third base home.